I'm looking at a painting of the triumphs held after Julius Caesar's victories, and some people are carrying banners. I know the "SPQR" stand for "Senatus populusque Romanus," but does anyone know what the other letters stand for? The Romans are a little overly fond of abbreviation I think... This is roughly what they look like:

Banner 1SPQR IVLIVS CAESAR P-M-

Banner 2SPQR DIVO IVLIO CÆSARI D-P-P-P-

Oh yeah, and what does SPQR have to do with Julius Caesar? He nullified the Senate practically as soon as he came into power.

As Bingley has noticed it, DIVO IVLIO "to the Divine Julius" implies that Caesar is already dead. In the following times, the dead emperors were regularly labelled DIVVS by the Senate : DIVVS AVGVSTVS, (not Tiberius, not Caligula) DIVVS CLAVDIVS (not Nero) DIVVS VESPASIANVS, DIVVS TITVS, etc. They say that Vespasian, as he was about to die, said : Vae, puto, deus fio "Woe is me ! I think I am becoming a god !" A very British Roman.

I usualy try to avoid posting silly remarks on what I know very little, but I can't help mentioning this...

Today there are too great a population of acronyms in electronics world so that 'PCMCIA' is made a "backronym" for "People Cannot Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms". Romans must had similar satirical terms.